Microsoft Repeats Lower Court Review Request

For the second time in two months, attorneys for Microsoft Corp. have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court, asking that it ignore the U.S. Justice Department’s push for expediency and allow a lower appeals court to hear its appeal of antitrust violations regarding the Windows PC operating system.

In June, District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled that Microsoft (www.microsoft.com) was stifling competition with its monopoly hold on Windows and ordered the company divided into two entities and governed by various business practice restrictions. Jackson asked that Microsoft’s appeal of the ruling be permitted to bypass the U.S. Court of Appeals and go directly to the Supreme Court to expedite the final review.

Microsoft lawyers filed a brief Tuesday that asserted the need of a thorough review of the ruling, given the magnitude of its importance to the computer industry. Lawyers for the software giant claim multiple factual errors came out of the district proceeding which are better left for review in a lower level appeals setting. They filed a similar brief in July.

Jackson also came under attack from the Microsoft camp Tuesday for interviews conducted before the ruling was released, which purportedly included statements that were inflammatory against the company.